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brax-was-here · 4 years

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Scarlet Briar: The Redemption of Ceara - Chapter 3

Written by: Braxxus

Editing by: Arwen Darkblade

Chapter 3: My Name Isn’t Ceara...

Sometimes the past just won’t let go

Scarlet appeared in the Dream, collapsing to the ground. "That was stupid of me. What was I thinking sending her to the Mists like that. I need her. In Tyria." She slowly got to her feet, steadying herself. "I haven't felt this weak since that day I was stabbed on the Breachmaker." She smiled, chuckling to herself. "Actually, that wasn't really me, right Ceara? That was you." She paused, thinking back to that moment she separated herself from Ceara. When she manifested herself for the first time outside of Ceara's mind. She thought Ceara was as good as dead right there on the floor of the command center of the Breachmaker. "What an exciting time that was! Such a defining moment!" she thought back to that day...

The sun shone over Lion's Arch. The people of the city went about their daily lives, merchants peddling their wares, sailors loading and unloading supplies at the docks. A quiet serene day. The Captains Council had been warned ahead of time that Scarlet would attack the city, but they scoffed at the notion, claiming it was just another empty threat. How wrong they would be.

"Playtime's over. Commence the attack!" Scarlet commanded. Aetherblade airships appeared out of nowhere in the sky above the city. They wasted no time opening fire on the unsuspecting populace down below. They're first targets were the asura gates. Destroying them made sure no reinforcements could make a quick entrance into the city. After that, they laid waste to the city center. Scarlet's ground troops invaded from every direction, even from underground. Her newly improved Watchknights spread poison gas, derived from the spores that she collected from the giant plant in Kessex Hills, throughout the city. The gas would kill anyone who breathed it in a matter of hours. Any survivors who were found were killed on sight. Standing on an observation deck at the edge of the Breachmaker, she laughed maniacally as she watched the mayhem unfold below.

"So, the heroes thought they had found an antitoxin to my spores? My spies served me well in delivering it to me," she said to herself. "This new version is now far more resistant to any cure they can come up with." Once the troops had secured the city, they gave her the signal.

"It's go time," she said, marching back to the command center. The Breachmaker, the greatest engineering feat she had ever constructed, descended from the sky into Sanctum Harbor, itss giant drill piercing the bedrock below at the exact point where the leyline probe had found the largest nexus in the network. At the control console, Scarlet raced through a sequence of shouted commands while she operated various controls.

"Magnetic balancers activated. Gyros are active? What about the backup gyros? We don't want to be wobbling when we start up.”

"Yes Madam! All gyros are online!"

"Check alignment on the bit. It didn't bend when we landed, did it?"

"Bit is reading perfectly straight!"

"Excellent. What are the aether readings around the bit? Are we reading anything from the leyline?

"Very little energy at current, Madam."

"Hmm, that'll change once we start drilling. All safety locks off? All hands clear? Well it doesn't matter anyway. If you get caught in the gears, serves you right." she said smiling.

"Everything is green, Madam!"

"Good!" Scarlet pulled a lever on the console. The sound of machinery activating filled the air. The drill slowly started spinning, boring into the earth below the harbor. She walked out to the ledge of the Breachmaker, looking over the ruined city. "This is the moment we've all been waiting for." she thought to herself, a sly smile spreading across her face. Scarlet knew she had to work quickly. She knew the Lionguard and its allies would waste no time launching a counterattack to try to take back the city.

"Activate defenses. We don't need any unwanted pests on board."

"Right away, Madam!"

Days went by as the Breachmaker slowly churned its way through the bedrock. Scarlet was getting restless. The wind had shifted and blown the toxic gas out to sea. She knew a counterattack was imminent.

"Keep all troops on alert," she commanded. "The Lionguard will be coming." She was correct; it wasn't long before the counterattack began. With keen focus and precision, the Lionguard and its allies, led by the dragon slayer, systematically retook the city. Scarlet knew that if they reached the Breachmaker, she would have to fight to the death to see her plan to completion. She had worked too hard to pull this all together and spent too much time to see it unravel now.

"Madam Scarlet! Intruders on the upper deck!" The heroes had arrived.

"No! Stop them at all costs!" she shouted. She knew she had no choice but to attack them directly. Armed with her latest tech and weapons, she met them outside the command center. She did all she could to stop them, conjuring holographic clones of herself to fight the group that stood before her and using every trick she had to hold them off until the Breachmaker hit its mark, but it wasn't enough. The heroes finally overwhelmed her and she had to retreat. Wounded, she managed to fight her way back into the command center, and sealed the door behind her.

"I've got to finish this...I've got to keep the drill going..." she said to herself as she staggered to the controls. She fell before she could make it. Crawling across the floor, she managed to drag herself into the entrance to the control area, hopefully to block any access to the drill controls. That's when the door busted open.

"Look at all you heroes. I guess now you'll shackle me in cuffs and haul me off to jail?" she spat. She knew she was done for, she just had to hold them off a little longer. Defiant to the end, she used the last of her arsenal to buy a few more minutes. The dragon slayer managed to shrug off her attacks, and ran Scarlet through. She coughed up blood as she spat her last words at the heroes. Just then the Breachmaker hit the leyline and started shaking. The heroes quickly evacuated, leaving Scarlet behind. As she lay on the floor gasping for air, she smiled.

"We had a lot of fun together, Ceara, but it's now time for me to go. I'll miss you dearly, but my work is not done. The Dream awaits! Say hello to everyone in the Mists for me! Ta-ta!" Ceara felt the madness slip from her mind as the leyline energy exploded up through the center of the giant machine.

"It seemed so long ago." Scarlet smiled, her thoughts returning to the present. "The grand scheme did work out in the end, didn't it Ceara?" she thought, smiling. She had succeeded in her plan to awaken the elder dragon Mordremoth, whom she had come to call her father after learning that the sylvari were his creation.

Her thoughts briefly turned to the sylvari firstborn Caithe."Your secret is out in the open now, isn't it Caithe?" She knew Caithe held a dark secret that could change the sylvari forever if it was ever revealed, and now Scarlet knew it. Caithe knew that the sylvari were created by Mordremoth, that when he awoke, he would try to exert his will over them and the Pale Tree. She tried to hold that over Caithe, to make her a little pawn, but Caithe was elusive. Scarlet realized quickly that trying to control Caithe would be extremely dangerous and quickly abandoned the notion.

"Not all plans are meant to be fulfilled." She looked off into the distance, she could feel Mordremoth's presence in the Dream. She knew the Pact Forces of Tyria would mobilize to attack him, to try to slay him at all costs, as they did the elder undead dragon Zhaitan before. She couldn't let that happen...after all, it was he that had awakened her in the Eternal Alchemy. That moment...when she realized who she was...

"Come closer, my child..." a voice boomed from everywhere around Ceara.

"What? Who's there!?"

"I am your creator."

"Creator? I was born from the Pale Tree..."

"And the Pale Tree was born from me...come, young one, let me show you the truth..."

Ceara continued to gaze into the abyss within the Eternal Alchemy. She could hear the dark voice clearly. It stared back at her. The more she looked, the more she could feel it reaching into her mind, reaching into a part of her psyche she didn't know existed. It showed her visions, death, destruction. She felt her own will slipping away as what she saw was taking control.

Omadd, an older asura, watched as Ceara thrashed about inside the isolation chamber, seemingly out of control. He had constructed a machine that would let one view the Eternal Alchemy, the very fabric of reality. Days earlier he had asked Ceara if she would like to be his test subject for the machine, of which she delightfully agreed. After all, the Eternal Alchemy was the main subject of her study during her time at Rata Sum. Now she would get a chance to view it first hand. He warned her that it might alter or damage her mind, maybe even kill her.

"I'm not worried about that. This is the chance of a lifetime!" she said. She climbed into the isolation chamber and laid down on the table. He strapped her down securely.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked her after placing the headpiece on her.

"Absolutely!" she quipped excitedly. "It's not everyday you get a chance to study the workings of life itself!"

"Very well. We're about to begin." he said as he slid the glass lid closed over her.

"At long last I'm going to see it. I'm going to see the Eternal Alchemy itself," she said, smiling to herself. Omadd exited the machine, making his way over to the control panel. He went through a series of checks to make sure everything was perfect. Once satisfied, he looked over at one of his assistants and gave a small nod. The assistant pushed a button and the machine started up. Energy raced through Ceara's mind. She gritted her teeth as she was thrust into another realm - the Eternal Alchemy. Omadd breathed a heavy sigh. He didn't tell her that his previous two assistants that agreed to try to view the Eternal Alchemy had died.

She had been inside the machine for roughly 3 days while he kept a steady monitor on her vital signs. Her heart rate kept spiking, her body temperature fluctuated up and down constantly. Omadd was starting to grow concerned when she finally stopped moving. As he slowly approached the isolation chamber, he could see she was smiling. Suddenly she sat up, breaking the restraints that held her on the table, and crashing through the glass canopy. She was gasping for air, seemingly trying to catch her breath. He ordered one of his assistants to shut down the machine and raced over to her.

"Careful, there is broken glass everywhere," He warned her. "Don't move until I get the canopy moved out of the way." He cautiously undid the latch and slowly moved the shattered door away from her. He reached up and removed the headpiece from Ceara's face. She opened her eyes, and held up her hands up, looking at them. A look of bewildering amazement on her face. She was laughing, almost hysterically.

"Ceara? What did you see?" he asked. She stopped laughing and looked at him for a moment.

"My name... isn't Ceara. My name..." she looked around the lab, and laughed to herself. Omadd's other assistants, looking on from a distance, were obviously cautiously curious about what was happening. "Scarlet. My name....my name is now Scarlet Briar." She turned to him smiling somewhat sinisterly, still seemingly trying to catch her breath. Omadd was apprehensive.

"Ok...please Scarlet, tell me, what did you see?"

"Everything," she replied, exasperated by his petty question.

"Kill him quickly," a voice spoke through Scarlet's mind. Omadd never got his answer.

"My dear mentor, thank you for teaching me everything you know. It was an honor to be your student and your assistant," she said. "But now, as every good student does, I must leave you and travel out into the world and put the knowledge you have so graciously instilled into me to good use for the plans that I have. It seems we sylvari are destined for greater things. To enjoy a world that you're not really a part of anymore." Scarlet left the lab, leaving Omadds and his lab assistants bloody corpses hanging from the ceiling.

"I have much work to do. It's going to be so much fun!" Scarlet said to herself as she danced lightly off into the night.

Scarlet smiled at the memory. "Ceara..." Scarlet thought to herself, holding her hand up. A misty ghostly appearance of Ceara appeared in her palm. "You were so resistant to me at first. You fought so hard to maintain control. But in the end, you gave in." She smiled. "And everything turned out ok, didn't it!? Well...except for that little mishap in Lion's Arch where they almost killed you. But we had fun together. Lots and lots of fun." Her laughter echoing through the dead trees. She thought back to the time that Ceara sought out help from the Menders in the Grove. To try to figure out what was happening. It was no use though. "They tried to find me in your head, my dear, and I was right in front of them all along." Scarlet said, smiling to herself. "Hidden from them right out...in...the... open." she said playfully, gently poking at the image of Ceara.

"These voices...I keep hearing them..." Ceara thought to herself sitting at a work table. It was late at night and she hadn't slept very much over the past few days. "I don't know how much longer I can take this."

"You will awaken me. And through you, I will rule all." a voice boomed through her head. Ceara whimpered, placing her hands over her ears.

"No...leave me be."

"You are mine. All of you!" the voice roared. She could feel whatever it was in her mind. She grimaced at the pain, a tear running down her face.

"Leave me alone, please." Breathing deeply, the pain slowly subsided. "I need help. I'm going to have to return to the Grove. Consult with the Menders there." She grabbed a bag and started packing her things. "I was hoping I would never have to return to that infernal place. Under the watch of Mother every single step of our lives. She's too possessive of us. She should let all sylvari choose their own path in life, not make some preordained fate for them." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Most of them can't even comprehend what it means to be free from her yoke. Don't they know there is a whole world out there for us?" She paused for a moment staring at the wall, slightly smiling. "Maybe we can make her see the errors of her ways! Maybe...maybe we can bend her to our will!" She started laughing, then suddenly stopped. She was shaking, breathing heavily. "What...what was that? That wasn't me..." She quickly finished packing her things and ran off heading to the Grove.

"Ceara. It's been years since you've left. What brings you back to the Grove?" Mender Deheune said.

"My name ..." She started saying through her teeth, but she cut herself off, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. "I need your help, Mender. For months I've been plagued with terrible nightmares. A voice calls to me, torments me no matter how much I run. I see visions...death, torment, destruction." she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "In my waking hours I hear it in the trees, on the wind...in my mind. I can't escape it. Sometimes I think it's just that I've been working too much, pushing myself beyond my limits."

"You always were one to work non stop until you were literally falling over asleep once you latched onto something, if I remember correctly." He went over to a table and started mixing something together in a cup.

"Well, yes. It's what I do.

"The search for knowledge never ends, does it."

"Never. I want to learn as much as I can."

"But sleep deprivation can and will kill you if you aren't careful." He finished what he was doing and walked back over to her. "Now let me check..." He went to reach up to her face, but she smacked his hands away.

"DO NOT LET HIM TOUCH YOU," a voice roared in her head. Ceara was on the verge of panic.

I...I'm sorry. I just..." she stammered.

"It's ok," the mender said. "Just...calm down. You're safe here. I'm not going to touch you. Just be still." He leaned in and looked at her eyes.

"But he isn't safe...if he reaches for you again, make him pay...messily."

"Hmm...we'll have to do some testing. You'll have to stay here for awhile."

"How long, Mender? I have important work that needs to be done." she asked, rather agitated.

"Until we can find out what is going on. But first you need to get some rest. Here, drink this. It'll help you sleep." She took the cup from him. The drink gave off a sweet aroma that filled the air.

"The menders cannot help you. No one can help you. You belong to him."

"Stop talking!" she said angrily.

"Excuse me?" the mender asked, turning towards her. Ceara looked up at him, stunned.

"It's...it's nothing. I'm sorry." She brought a hand up covering her face, rubbing her eyes. She paused before drinking the elixir, knowing what waited for her during her sleeping hours. She took a deep breath and downed it.

"Pale mother!" her face turned sour. She was almost gagging.

"No good medicine ever tasted nice," Deheune said, kindly. "Now get some rest. We'll continue in the morning." She laid down, waiting for the nightmares to start anew.

Ceara found herself a grassy plain, the air thick with the sounds of battle. In the distance she could see people fighting. She started running towards it, but the more she ran, the farther away it seemed to be. Suddenly the ground before erupted, knocking her to the ground. Long spindly vines seemed to come from everywhere, twisting and snaking their way through the air. Quickly they formed into some kind of creatures, plant creatures the likes of which she had never seen before. They had her surrounded. The creatures in front of her parted, and another walked up to her. Brandishing a blade, this one was different from the rest.

"My master commands..." it said in a gruff voice, raising it's blade. Ceara raised her arms to shield her face as she felt the blade slice her open from shoulder to waist. She screamed in agony. The group turned and departed, seemingly going off to the battle. As she lay on the ground, gasping for air, she felt something in her wound. Looking down, she saw vines starting to grow from her. Slowly at first, then more quickly. They all seemed to turn towards her, hanging in the air for a few moments before forming flower buds on the end. They blossomed open and formed into her own face.

Ceara stared wide eyed. The flowers all smiled in unison. "You see, my dear. The more you resist, the more painful it will be." The mouth of the closest to her face folded back and revealed a monstrous visage, a face she had ever seen before.

"SUBMIT TO ME!" a voice boomed through her head as the others laughed hysterically, the laughter echoing all around her. The creature reared up and lunged at her.

Ceara awoke screaming. She jumped out of the bed and raced from the mender's abode. Panting, she tried to catch her breath, as she looked around the area. Citizens of the Grove moved about, going about their lives, no one really paying any attention to her. Deheune came running up.

"Ceara? What is it? What's wrong?" She looked at him, her eyes wide.

"It...it was a nightmare...again..." she said, bringing her hands up, covering her face.

"Come, let's go back inside." He put his arm around her shoulders, which she instinctively shrugged off.

"If he touches you again...kill him...remember...?" a voice said in her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to focus away from the voice. Sitting down on the end of the bed, she buried her face in her hands.

"Tell me what happened?" he asked. She explained to him what happened in the nightmare.

"Hmm. I'll consult with the Mother Tree. You stay here and try to relax. I know it's not much, but keeping calm is the best thing you can do right now." He left the building. Ceara closed her eyes and breathed deeply

"Relax? I wish I could." She walked out of the menders home and looked around the Grove. She was in the lower part where many of the sylvari lived. Large pools of the clearest water covered the ground. She walked over to the nearest pool and looked at her reflection. A tired weary face looked back at her.

"I look terrible" she thought. She knelt down and splashed water on her face. Clearing the water from her eyes, she noticed her reflection staring back at her, smiling menacingly. Ceara jumped back from the pool.

"Excuse me?" a voice spoke from behind her. She turned suddenly. A female sylvari was standing there dressed in a bright colorful outfit. "You look distraught. Is everything ok?"

"I'm...I'm fine." Ceara replied looking away.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the sylvari asked somewhat sheepishly.

"Sadly, no, you can't," Ceara replied, seemingly agitated. She walked back into the Menders house.

Deheune returned a few hours later. "Mother Tree suggests we try a meditation. Entering the Dream and try to confront the nightmare that haunts you."

"Rubbish! Mother will just try to throw her yoke on me once again. I cut that rope years ago. I don't need her to "guide me", to give me some predestined fate. We need to live our own lives. Not the one she imagines for us."

"No, Ceara. that's not it at all. Just...just try. It may help."

She gritted her teeth. She kept getting agitated with every mention of her birth name. Shaking her head she stated "Mender, I can't." She stormed out of his home.

Ceara spent the night wandering the Grove. the Nightblooms, sylvari born during the cycle of night were out and about, as well as the Wardens and others who were charged with protecting the Grove. Her mind wandered, wondering if she'll ever be ok. Nothing the mender seemed to be doing was working. His last suggestion was to enter the Dream, a suggestion she scoffed at. Entering the Dream would mean allowing the Mother Tree to attach her yoke again. She wasn't going to allow that. She paused looking up at the great tree.

"Mother, why must you keep your people on a leash. Let them live their lives. sylvari are destined for greatness. Let them thrive and spread across Tyria, and turn it into a paradise." She slightly smiled. "Peace under the rule of...." She stopped. That wasn't her thinking. "That thing...it's..." she took a deep breath and headed back to the menders home.

Hours later, Ceara found herself sitting on the floor, legs crossed staring at Deheune.

"Close your eyes and breath deep and open yourself to the Dream. I'll be with you." he said. She was very apprehensive at first, simply staring at him. He looked at her slightly frustrated. "We aren't going to see if this will help if you're unwilling to try, Ceara." Ceara sighed, resigning herself to opening her mind to the Dream.

Ceara found herself standing in a forest path. The air was cool and still and deathly silent. The only sound was herself breathing. She looked down at her hands, her skin pale and ashen. Her heart was racing and she felt like she was on the edge of panic.

"Calm down, calm down, calm down." She told herself, breathing deeply. "It'll be ok."

"Oh will it now," she heard behind her. Turning suddenly she paused stunned. Standing behind her was herself, only her skin was her normal pale green. "Tell me now, how is it going ok?" the other asked smiling.

"You...you aren't real. This...this is a dream..."

"Oh is it? Then let's dance, shall we?" the other said, holding her hand up, small vines adorned with thorns grew from her palms towards Ceara.

"No!" Ceara started running along the path. A cackling laughter echoed through the forest.

"YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER," a voice boomed through her head. Ceara covered her ears as she ran. The ground beneath her feet seemed to change and move. Looking around, she wasn't in the forest anymore, the very trees and vegetation seemed to be moving. She heard a low growl on the wind.

"You belong to me. You will do my bidding," a deep voice growled. It was the voice from the Eternal Alchemy. "Now go!" The ground seemed to shift and roll. She lost her footing and fell. The ground below her was approaching fast. It seemed to distort and twist becoming a version of her own face, smiling at her as she fell. As it neared, the mouth opened.

Ceara screamed. The mender snapped out of the Dream to find Ceara balled up on the floor, shaking.

"It's coming to get me... I can't stop it... No one can stop..."The mender held her as she rambled on for minutes about something that was chasing her.

Ceara fought to stay awake the following night, but the exhaustion of fighting whatever it was in her mind was wearing on her. Drifting off to sleep, she found herself in a rocky cavern, with beams of ethereal energy weaving their way through the darkness.

"What is this?" she asked herself. She reached up to touch one of them, placing her hand in the path. Very warm to the touch, she felt energy hum through her body. Then a maddening cackle echoed through the cavern, morphing into a low deep growling laughter. She jumped back, scanning the area.

"What are you doing here sleeping? You have work that needs to be done. Those ley lines are going to find themselves, you know?"

"Who's there!?" She asked snapping awake, jumping out of the chair scanning the room.

"Don't you know? I'm you. I've always been you, you just didn't realize it. Aren't you happy? Because if you aren't, you will be soon." It was herself talking, but it wasn't her.

"What's going on? What's wrong with me?" she whined. Scared, she balled herself up on the chair, frozen in terror.

"Oh, don't you worry. You'll be fine. We're going to have a lot of fun, you and I." She laughed. "We should leave in the morning. We have an energy network to search for." Ceara whimpered, terrified, alone.

Scarlet snapped back to the present, her face turned sour. The ghostly image of Ceara she had conjured dissipated into mist. "Thorns..." she cursed herself under her breath. "I wasted too much energy opening that rift to the Mists." She looked around at the surrounding area. Cold, dead foliage was everywhere. Her very essence had siphoned any life from everything near her. She could feel the energy of the Dream slowly restoring her strength. "So much raw power here. " she said looking at her hands. " I could stay here and draw it all in, but it would take too much time. I'll need to cultivate as much chaos magic as I can once again." She smiled slyly. "More power...in that wretched desert." She raised her hand up, conjuring the image of ley energy in the air around it. She thought about the cavern in the cliffs of the Maguuma Wastes.

"Look at that. It's beautiful." The hum of the leyline filled the cavern. "This stream of leyline energy will be perfect to study. I'll need to secure a place for my equipment and that little town nearby is just the spot to do it." Ceara said playfully. "It's out of the way enough from the rest of the world that no one will know what's going on."

"And if they do, you make them see the error of their ways." she heard in her mind. Ceara turned suddenly scanning the cavern. No one was there. She laughed to herself. "Who else would be here?" she said playfully. "Oh that's right. NO ONE BUT ME!!" Her voice echoed off the cavern walls. She took a deep breath and left the cavern, eager to return with her equipment.

The town of Prosperity was a small secluded place located in the desert region of the Maguuma Wastes. The town relied on traveling traders to survive, with most of the residents working in the local mine. Using gold she had taken from Omadd after his death, Ceara secured residency in a small room on the edge of the town. Over the course of the next few days she would transport the equipment she needed to study the leyline.

"It seems I miscalculated..." she sighed. She had stuffed so much equipment and boxes into the little room that she barely had space for herself. "This simply will not do." Turning her head sideways, looking through the door at the mass that filled her living space. "Well, once I get things set up in the cavern, some space will be made...I hope."

"You don't have time to sleep," a voice spoke in her mind. Ceara gritted her teeth.

"Leave me alone..."

"I can't do that, dear. I'll be with you always. I'm a part of you. I always have been." Ceara closed her eyes and tried to focus.

"Then at least shut up so I can work." She heard a distance cackle in her mind. Sighing, she started unpacking boxes.

Days went by as the townsfolk watched this seemingly antisocial sylvari unpack, move equipment, assemble, disassemble, assemble again, move some more. They tried to talk to her a few times, but was always met with agitation and cold shoulders.

"That certainly is a lot of fancy looking equipment for one lone plant." one of the townsfolk said to another as they stood near a well, watching Ceara move about. "She's been going non stop since she got here. I don't think she's slept a lick, Poor girls gonna work herself to death." Ceara paused for a moment when she noticed the group watching her.

"Don't you people have better things to do than standing around gawking?" she asked lowly narrowing her eyes. She quickly turned back to getting things ready. That's when she noticed something odd about the far wall in her room. It looked like it had been shifted at one point in time and there was a small gap at the top. She gathered some crates and stood on them and tried to peer through the opening.

"A cave? maybe?" She jumped down and searched about for something she could smash the wall with. "Briars! Where is it!?" she cursed at herself digging through boxes.

"AH-HA! Found it!" she said seemingly happy. The oddly shaped device was a weapon she was developing while she was under Omadds tutelage. A concussion field emitter that would knock things down or away. She had planned to install it on one of her steam creations but never finished it. "Well, her we go!" She pointed the device at the wall and activated it. It sent out a shockwave that rattled the boxes around her and seemed to affect the wall slightly. "Hmm..." She walked up to the wall and used the device directly in front of it.

The townsfolk gathered around the well took interest in the loud boom that came from the sylvari's room.

"Seems she may have filled that room to the bursting point" one said. They laughed a bit. Then they heard another loud boom and watched as Ceara came flying backwards out of the door. A large dust cloud came rolling out seconds afterwards.

Ceara stared at the sky for a moment as the dust cloud rolled over her. "That...I didn't think that would happen..." She sat up and waited for the dust to clear. She could see the far wall of the room collapsed and darkness on the other side.

"You think we should try to help her?" one of the folks asked to the group.

"Nah, whatever that girl is doing over there I don't want any part of."

Ceara ran back inside, covering her nose and mouth. She grabbed a lantern and peered through the hole. Indeed there was a cave. There were makeshift rickety stairs leading down into the darkness. Cautiously she made her way down.

"You know what lies in the darkness, don't you, dear?" she heard in her mind. She paused for a moment and stared into the blackness.

"This isn't the Eternal Alchemy," she said to herself as she continued on, a joyful cackle echoed through her mind.

"Just stop, will you?" she said grabbing her forehead.

"I'll never stop. Now, continue on, darling. We need to see what's in this cave."

Ceara felt herself forced to continue. Climbing over rocks and walking through spider webs, she finally found an exit that lead out into a canyon.

"Nothing. But at least it will be a good place to set up shop and do some work."

"There's plenty to be done." the voice responded. Ceara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "What? You may as well get used to it. I'm here for the duration."

Days turned into weeks which turned into months. She had feverishly studied the current of leyline energy running through the cavern, sometimes days at a time. Trying to figure out how to harness it, redirect it, use its energies to power anything and everything.

"You should get some sleep, Darling." the voice whispered.

Ceara stopped working for a moment, shaking her head. Sleep was indeed weighing heavy on her. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to focus. "If I sleep, the nightmares return..."

"They aren't that bad," the voice replied back to her. "But they may go away if you would just...give...IN!"

Ceara winced at the sharp pain that ran through the back of her head. "I don't know how much more I can take." She took a breath. "This is taking longer than I anticipated. Of all the types of materials I've used to try to capture any of this energy is destroyed in a matter of minutes. I need to find a material that can withstand the power this energy produces."

Ceara opened her eyes. "No...Leave me alone!" she yelled. The darkness was all around her. She started to run. But it seemed to never end.

"You are nothing! I will swallow your hope and destroy your will. I am your master and you will submit to me!" a deep voice boomed all around. She felt dark hands all over her as she ran through the blackness. There were eyes everywhere though she couldn't see them. Something grabbed her leg and she fell. Looking at her leg, it was a vine adorned with thorns, wrapped around it, like the ones she saw in the Eternal Alchemy. It was slowly twisting it's way around her when another joined it, their thorns slowly digging into her skin. She heard footsteps that appeared to be coming from all around. Out of the darkness, she saw it. She saw herself. Multiple of her. Surrounding her. They all looked at her, smiling menacingly. They moved in and grabbed her, and she jolted awake. She sat up, trying to catch her breath. She had fallen asleep at a work table, a terrible mistake.

"Each time...it gets worse...." she said to herself. "I may not be able to hold out much longer."

Weeks passed. Her research led her to find that steel forged by the Dredge may be her best bet to contain the energy produced by the leyline. Working through channels in Tyria's underground black market, she was able to secure a supply of scrap Dredge steel. Fashioning a cylindrical container, it did indeed last longer than anything she had used before, but it too eventually disintegrated.

"Hmmm...almost," she thought, looking at the pile of dust and scrap remain of the container. "But what am I missing?"

"Perhaps you're being too technical about this?" the voice questioned. Ceara narrowed her eyes.

"Hmm...for once maybe you're right."

"I'm always right. You haven't learned that yet?"

"Hmph", Ceara grunted at the notion. "Anyway, casting all technical data aside for the moment, what do we have left? Alchemy? Magic? The Mists? The Dream?" Ceara sat down at a table and started brainstorming, alternating between writing on a notepad and typing on a holoscreen. Hours passed as she made calculations, diagrams, notations, scribbles and doodles. Finally she may have arrived at her answer.

"The Flame Legion fires are imbued with magic. What if the Dredge steel is forged in that flame?" She thought. "Talking to them won't be easy. I dare not contact them in person." She knew it would take a lot of sly talking and underhanded manipulation to get the Flame Legion to give up their secrets.

"The promise of a stronger steel for their army may swing things in my favor," she said to herself.

"And offer the Dredge the promise of magic, and they'll be in the palm of your hand," the voice said.

"The moles get magic, the flame gets gears. And I get the materials I need. It's perfect." She thought. The first part of her plan was starting to come together. She smiled.

"Soon...the world will know Scarlet Briar." A hysterical cackle filled the cavern.

Scarlet opened her eyes. "Oh Ceara, so ambitious. Father loved you." She playfully trailed the ghostly leyline she had conjured around her, like a dancer trailing a ribbon. It dissipated as she started walking through the dead foliage, brown grass and dried twigs cracking under her footsteps. She sat against a rotten log, looking up at the sky. "You resisted so much, but eventually you learned that you couldn't hold back Father's ambition. You gave in, and when you finally learned, we ended up having so much fun, didn't we? Especially at the Jubilee!" The sounds of mechanical chaos and people screaming filled the air around her.

"So there is a jubilee being thrown for the anniversary of Queen Jennah's 10 years as ruler? Hmm,,, how about that? Seems like my kind of party!" Scarlet said excitedly hearing the news. Her excitement turned to agitation abruptly. "But...I never got an invitation! How could they not invite me?!" She looked at the hologram of the Aetherblade captain standing before her. "Maybe a surprise visit is in store, right Captain?"

Yes, Madam!" the hologram shouted back.

"Send a team in to see what the good Queen is going to have in the way of security, would you please? And make it quick!"

"Right away, Madam Scarlet!" he saluted her, and disappeared.

Scarlet pondered for a moment. "Hmm...if I could kidnap the Queen...." she said to herself "that would be a great boon for my plans." A dull pain ran through the back of her head. She gritted her teeth. "Will...you...stop FIGHTING! You can't win, you're nothing now!. He controls you now. You belong to him. The more you fight, the longer this will take. Just give in to him, give yourself over to him, then maybe he will finally grant you peace." The pain subsided and Scarlet smiled to herself. "There, that's a good little sylvari. Align yourself with Father and he will give you everything. Now, where was I? Ah yes, kidnapping Queen Jennah." She thought for a moment. "I won't really be able to plan anything until I hear the captains report." Taking a sip from a warm cup of tea, she looked over at the furnace she had built. "We really need to get that thing working properly. We don't want to freeze in here, do we darling? What? You don't like where we set up shop? Our own little private lab located in the middle of the Shiverpeaks where no one could possibly find us?" She looked around at the lab she had built for herself. A small hidden room in a cave in Lornar's Pass, right underneath the Durmond Priory's nose. She chuckled at the thought. The greatest collection of magical artifacts in all of Tyria was just a few hundred yards away with only solid bedrock separating her from them. But she knew better. Any attempt to infiltrate the Priory's secured collection at current would be disastrous. "Perhaps after Father has awakened." She sipped from the tea again. "You certainly do have good taste in tea, dear." She took a moment to admire the drink, a mix of ginger tea with a slight hint of sweet berry ale from Hoelbrak, before walking across the lab to a large monitor that hung on the wall. The screen showed a map of Tyria with multiple lines running every which way across it. "Now which one of you is going to be the lucky one..." she said, slightly smiling and laughing to herself.

Turning her attention to a workbench nearby, she stared at a small metallic device she had been building. She walked over to the bench and picked up the object. A small device with wires sticking out of it every which way. Picking up some nearby tools, she continued working on it.

"Soon, I'll have those diminutive minded Dredge building hundreds of these probes and placing them all over Tyria," she said, very content in her work.

A few days passed. Working on the small probe, she heard her communication device activate.

"That better be that captain with a report," she said angrily. She activated the hologram screen on her control panel and an image of the Aetherblade captain appeared. "It's about time, Captain. What good news do you bring me?....you better have good news!"

"Madam, the team has arrived back from Divinity's Reach with their report."

"And?"

"The newly built Crown Pavilion is where the jubilee will be held..."

"And?"

"The Queen has commissioned a battalion of robot guards to protect against any kind of attack."

"Robot guards? Like asura golems?"

"No Madam. These are human shaped, female specifically. We've never seen these before." Scarlet paused a moment, her eyes wide.

"Madam?"

"Oh really!? Interesting!" Scarlet squealed with excitement. "What else did they find?" The Captain was taken a little off guard by her outburst of excitement at first, and then ran off a few other things, but she wasn't listening, her thoughts on these new "robot guards".

"Um Madam, are you still listening?" He asked.

"Oh, you're still talking? I'm sorry, Captain. Actually... I'm not listening...and I'm not sorry. You're free to go now."

"Uh, Mad..." She shut off the screen, cutting him off abruptly. Scarlet pondered for a long time. "If these are the same machines that I think they are, then...they may have incorporated some of my own steam designs into them...which means..." a wide smile grew across her face, her eyes as wide as can be "I can control them! This party just got a whole lot better!" She laughed as she pranced around the room. "Now where did I leave all those old design drawings!?" She opened an old chest she had sitting in a corner of the lab. It was overflowing with old documents and drawings she had done years ago. Papers flew everywhere and she rummaged through the paperwork.

"Oh shut up you. Stop your complaining. This is going to be amazing. The plan I have. Just imagine the looks on the faces of those poor poor people when they see the excitement I'm going to create! HA!" she said, laughing hysterically. Her apparent happiness ended when she reached the bottom of the chest without finding the paperwork she was looking for.

"They aren't here?" she said softly. "Where are they?" She looked around the lab before pausing. "Prosperity? Why did we leave them in Prosperity? AAARRGGH! I have to return to that wretched desert. At least it won't take long...hopefully." Scarlet grabbed a small device from a shelf and adjusted some controls. "There, all set." In the blink of an eye, she appeared in the desert on the outskirts of the town.

"Well, look who came back." One of the townsfolk standing by the well said. "What do you think she's up to this time?"

"Don't know, don't want to know" another said, taking a drink from his beer.

Scarlet entered her room. She ran her fingers over one of the crates. There was a fine layer of dust on everything. Looking over the boxes, she let out a heavy sigh. "Where do I start?" she asked herself, scratching the back of her head. She managed to find the drawings she was looking for in the second box. "How lucky! Yay me!" They were her old drawings from years before when she was designing her steam creatures. "Now..." she smiled slyly "let's get to work."

Back at the lab, Scarlet poured over the blueprints of her old steam creatures. It didn't take her long to build a device that will allow her to take control of these new mechanical constructs the Queen had commissioned.

"Well now, that was a tad too easy." she said to herself smiling. She paused a moment and closed her eyes. "Quit...being...a...bother, please?" she said, sighing heavily as a dull pain appeared in the back of her head. "You really aren't in any position to have a choice in anything, you realize that, right?" She attached the device to one of the gauntlets of her armor. "Now...I think this jubilee would be the perfect time we made our grand introduction to the world, don't you think?"

"The Jubilee was indeed a blast, wasn't it?" Scarlet thought, smiling to herself. "I didn't get the Queen, but I did get to torment Lord Faren a bit. And those Watchknights...they were too perfect. Well, perfect after my modifications. Not to mention they gave me the most wonderful idea to deal with that wretched dragon slayer and that rag tag group. Cupping her hands together in front of her, a ghostly apparition of a Watchknight appeared in standing in her palms. She smiled at it, cocking her head sideways a little in a playful fashion. "We started working on it, but there were more pressing matters." The watchknight faded as she waved her hand in front of her. A ghostly image of the Tower of Nightmares she had ordered constructed appeared in front of her. A giant simple tower built of wood and steel, open at the top in Viathan Lake of Kessex Hills that housed one of her greatest creations...

"A giant spore plant...whose poison can fell even the most hardiness of the Norn...whose spores can be harvested to make into a lethal weapon..." Her eyes narrowed. "It's so brilliant." Scarlet said out loud, laughing to herself looking at her display. "I'll spread it across all of Tyria....what?...oh shut up you. I'm getting sick of your constant struggling to gain control. It's not going to happen so just get back in your box and keep quiet." She slammed her fist on the console. "You should be thankful. Thanks to all your knowledge, I've been able to put my grand scheme into production." Scarlet tapped some buttons on the console and brought up some images. One a giant version of the Watchknights, another a seemingly huge machine designed to bore into the earth. "You see? My greatest inventions. These will change Tyria." She paused a moment looking a little distraught. "These aren't your ideas! I created them! They're mine!" She snarled. "Oh, the dragon slayer will stop me? I think not. What happened at the Jubilee was a minor set back." Scarlet thought back to what happened at the Crown Pavilion. The Queen was in her grasp, but it turned out to be a mesmer illusion. "Well, at least there was Lord Faren. He was quite the charmer" She smiled. "Oh! You finally agree with me on something? Will wonders never cease? Of all things we agree on Lord Faren. And yes he did. I especially liked the color of his undies." Scarlet laughed. A holoprojection appeared on the console. It was a member of the Nightmare Court who had joined her newly formed Toxic Alliance.

"Madam Scarlet." He saluted. "Construction of the tower is going according to plan, but the krait are becoming extremely difficult to work with." She looked at the hologram with disdain.

"Madam?" he asked.

"Did I...give you...permission to TALK?" she asked, raising her voice.

"Ah...I...I'm sorry, Madam."

"What is your name, boy?" she commanded. The sylvari looked worried. "Spit it out! Now!"

"Ah...it's Caelan, Madam."

"Caelan?" she narrowed her eyes. "Know you place, boy. You speak to me without permission again, I'll make your life extremely miserable, do you understand?

"Yes, Madam!" he saluted again.

"Now, what is this about the Krait?"

"They...aren't working to full potential. They aren't following instructions. Creating havoc."

"Tell them...if they wish to meet their prophet like I promised, they will follow our deal to the letter. As a matter of fact, tell their dear priestess that she will be receiving a letter from me very shortly, reminding her of our deal. I get my tower, the krait get their prophet, and the Nightmare Court get their spores."

"Yes, Madam. Right away!" the hologram disappeared.

"Of course, I don't really care about their so called prophet or the Court" She activated floating console and started typing "I was harsh to him? Really? You, of all people, are going to lecture me about being "harsh" to people. You just need to sit in the corner and keep quiet." She took a sip of her tea. "and I was harsh to him because he needed to be reminded of his place in all this. He and the rest of those Nightmare Court idiots. So just be quiet and let me work." She finished typing the message and sent it on its way. "That should keep those Krait in line for awhile." After closing down the console she walked over to a workbench where a small prototype energy probe was lowly humming. She looked at it for a moment and smiled. "It's time." She contacted the Aetherblades on the holoprojector.

"Yes, Madam Scarlet?" the soldier asked.

"Instruct the Dredge to start placing the energy probes at all the predetermined locations that I have supplied immediately."

"Yes, Madam. Right away!" She shut the projector down and sat in her chair, smiling at the monitor. Swinging her legs over the side and teasing her hair, she started laughing to herself before taking a sip of her tea.

Days passed as Scarlet worked on her plans. Her wall monitor showed a map of Tyria showing signal pings from her sensor probes. Every so often a new one would appear as the Dredge continued to install them across the continent.

"Moving forward, my dear." she said. "Aren't you proud of the work you've done? Aren't you proud to be part of this? We're destined for greater things." There was silence. "Hmm...nothing to say? Usually you're quite talkative about these things." Scarlet chuckled to herself as she poured over a stack of blueprints on the table. "This is coming along nicely." She held up a sheet that had a design schematic for a large version of the Watchknights. "This." she smiled. The hologram projector pinged. "Hm?". Activating the projector, an image of the young sylvari Caelan appeared.

"Madam Scarlet!?" he seemed anxious. "We have a..." he stopped himself as Scarlet narrowed her eyes.

"Caelan,...What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I'm sorry, Madam. The tower is nearing completion, but we seemed to have attracted some unwanted attention."

"Then why are you still talking to me? You should be out there disposing of said unwanted attention. Are all of you Nightmare Court idiots that dense?" Caelan's mouth hung open in seemingly disbelief. "Now really?" she said in a huff. "You're going to catch flies. Now go!" She shut the holoprojector off, "Sometimes I think Faolin just pulls in the weakest of us to fill her little group." Scarlet paused. "Oh wait, she does." she said, shaking her head. She moved back to the work bench. "Time to get those dredge to work again. This "marionette" will be my..." she paused, staring at the wall, seemingly slightly agitated. "Is that what you think? that you're just a puppet? That WE are a puppet? No darling, you're a means to an end, and a new beginning for Tyria when this is all done." she smiled. "All sylvari will have you to thank when we rule the land. Now be good and just sit quietly. It's time for the Dredge to start working on this." She rolled up the prints and placed them in a container. "Well, now that the tower is completed, I guess we should go inspect their handiwork, don't you think? I'm sure the Krait are just besides themselves waiting for their prophet to arrive! I do hope they all did use the antitoxin. It would be a shame for all of them to just suddenly die when the spores start spreading!" She laughed to herself. "First things first though, I'll get the Dredge to start construction on this at the hanger, and might as well see how they are doing on our BIG project!" Her laughter echoed through the lab.

Scarlet teleported into her little room in the Aetherblade hanger. Exiting the room, she looked over the gigantic structure that housed multiple Aetherblade airships as well as a giant machine that was under construction. A nearby Aetherblade member noticed her and saluted.

"Madam Scarlet!" he shouted. Nearby soldiers took notice and saluted as well.

"Soldier, where is the foreman?"

"He's up on the superstructure, Madam. Shall I call him?"

"Yes, Right away." she ordered. The soldier ran over to a small intercom. Scarlet looked over the railing to the floor below. Dredge were scurrying everywhere, working on anything and everything in the giant room. Moments later, the soldier returned.

"Foreman IronHammer is on his way, Madam."

"Excellent. I am very short on time and would hate to have to be kept waiting." The soldier saluted and returned to his post. Minutes later, the foreman arrived. Once a member of the Charr Iron Legion, Ironhammer abandoned his warband in search of riches across Tyria. He found his calling in the Aetherblades.

"Madam Scarlet." He saluted. "What do we owe the pleasure of this unscheduled visit?"

"I have a new project for the Dredge to start working on immediately. I need it finished as fast as possible." She handed the container with the plans to him. He opened them and looked over the first sheet.

"Madam, this is..." he started. Her eyes narrowed, her lips pursed as she prepared for a brutal rebuttal against his seemingly apparent apprehension. Then she noticed he started smiling. "This is deliciously clever!" he snarled.

"Good! Get the Dredge to work right away. It's going to be a special surprise for our...friends." she sneered at the thought of the dragon slayer. "Now, I must be off. I have matters to attend to in Kessex. I expect results shortly, Foreman."

"Yes, Madam!" he saluted.

The Dream seemed to shudder as Scarlet watched the image of the tower fade. "Who would have thought that the Krait and the Nightmare Court would have worked together? I'm still amazed at myself that I got those two groups to actually join forces." she chuckled to herself. On the hopes of power and wealth, she had managed to get two of the most unlikely groups in Tyria to work together to construct one of her greatest weapons. "But, alas, that dragon slayer showed up and destroyed it. But not before I got my spores." She smiled, pausing for a moment. "I had the perfect plan to remove that festering sore." She held out her hands and an image of her "Marionette" appeared. A giant Watchknight hanging by chains, like a giant puppet. "I was so proud of this." she said, thinking back to that day in Lornar's Pass.

Scarlet smiled as she looked up at the towering monstrosity of chrome and steel. A giant twisted mockery of the Watchknights she captured from the Jubilee. It hung on huge chains like a giant puppet.

"It's perfect." she said. "The perfect trap to deal with those "heroes of Tyria". She sneered. Standing on a raised gantry way, she looked down at the floor below. Dredge ran from here to there making final adjustments to the giant machine.

"Madam Scarlet, Is there a location where you would like to test the Marionette?" an Aetherblade member asked her.

Scarlet pondered for a few moments. "Divinity's Reach would be nice. Or maybe the Grove? Lion's Arch? No, no none of those. All those places will be heavily defended anyway. Plus the spores aren't ready."

"Ma'am, may I suggest in Lornar's Pass. There is a location that I believe would be a perfect test area. We could even lure the dragon slayer and that troublesome band and trap them, along with any other allies they might have, and you could deal with them at your leisure." Scarlet smiled at the idea. Then, when the time came, she could put the final phase of her plan into motion unhindered.

She licked her upper lip, smiling slyly "Lornar's Pass, eh? I like the way you think, soldier." In Lornar's Pass, she could monitor the battle from the safety of her own lab. "Show me where this perfect area is." The soldier led Scarlet down the gantry way and over to a map on a nearby table.

"This area here." he said pointing to a section of the map. " False River Valley. This alcove in the mountains will be the perfect place. They would only be able to approach from the west and south, and given the shape of the terrain with these valleys, we could drop in modified watchknights behind them while they are focused on the Marionette, cutting off any escape route." Scarlet pondered for a moment, her thoughtful expression slowly turning into a smile.

"I love it!" she said excitedly. "I can finally be rid of that thorn in my side!" She paused a moment. "Not you! Where have you been? You've been so quiet lately, I've almost forgotten you exist!" The soldier looked at Scarlet somewhat puzzled.

"Madam? Are you..."

"I'm fine!" she cut him off. "This is absolutely perfect! I'll be rid of those...those...thank you...that nuisance once and for all! HA! Can you believe it? Then I can finally put the final touches on my plan! Like the final topping on a cake! How sweet it will be!" Scarlet laughed. The soldier slowly started backing away. It didn't go unnoticed. "What's the matter, boy? Do I scare you?"

No, Madam...I'm...I'm just giving you some room."

"Just think!" she turned away from him "this will all be over very soon. And then?...oh yes...and then we will rule over Tyria." She turned back to him, grinning from ear to ear. "And I will have you to thank for this! You!" She walked over to him, placing her hand gently under his chin. "Don't be afraid, boy." she said, looking into his eyes. "I'll make sure you have a proper place in the new world when we are done." She narrowed her eyes. Tell me...what do you dream about?"

"Uh...I...uh.."

"Come now, boy. Surely you dream of something at night, don't you?" She released his chin and turned away from him.

"You can answer later. But now, let's prepare, shall we!? How soon until the Marionette is ready? Where is Foreman Ironhammer?" She activated an intercom. "Foreman Ironhammer. Report to me immediately!"

"Um..Madam..."

"What?" she turned to the soldier, seemingly agitated.

"You might want to at least announce where your location is so he can find you..." the soldier sheepishly. Scarlet fell silent, staring at him.

"You already scored positive points in my book. Don't make me erase them." she said sternly. "Now get out of my sight!" she ordered.

"I...yes, Madam!" the soldier saluted and quickly left. Scarlet looked up at the Marionette again, lost in thought.

"Dear, it's because of you that all this is happening. Your brilliance and ingenuity are beyond anyone in Tyria. Because of you, all of Tyria will bow before a new master. And we..."she paused smiling. "We will be on the forefront of a new world."

"Madam Scarlet." Foreman Ironhammer approached her. He stood beside her and saluted. She turned her gaze away from the Marionette to him.

"Foreman..." she said calmly, looking at him in the eyes, before turning back to the Marionette. "When will the Marionette be ready for it's big introduction?"

"Final adjustments and testing are being made as we speak, Madam. She'll be ready in a couple of days."

"Hmm..." Scarlet seemed discontent. The Foreman took notice.

"Madam?"

" Foreman Ironhammer. You've done an incredible job in keeping everything running on schedule here, so I'll be lenient. But..." she paused. Ironhammer felt uneasy. " I want the Marionette finished as soon as possible. I want to watch those so called 'heroes' burn when I give them the surprise of their lives." She smiled. The Foreman breathed in deep.

"Yes Madam! I'll double the efforts of the Dredge. '

"Good, we have to prepare for launch and...let it slip that I'll be testing a new weapon in Lornar's Pass." She said playfully as she walked away from the Foreman.

"I didn't get to overcharge the Aethercannon inside the Marionette in time...." Scarlet watched as the image of the marionette collapsed in her hands, like the giant version had months before when the heroes of Tyria managed to cut the chains holding it before she could detonate it.

"And really, Ceara?" Scarlet said to herself. " 'Cut my strings...' Was that your last plea for help? Hoping the heroes could somehow save you from your destiny?" She remembered Ceara managed to take control for a brief moment during the battle at the Marionette. "They wouldn't have been able to save you." The Marionette had been her crowning achievement up to that point in her life. Sadly, she wasn't able to kill the dragon slayer, or any others for that matter. It didn't matter. She looked at the cold dead ground under her feet.

"In the end, we still got the prize, didn't we, Ceara? Well...I did anyway." She smiled lightly. "Those heroes tried to knock out the probes, but they missed the most crucial one. How lucky I was." she thought. They had missed the probe sitting on the floor of Sanctum Harbor in Lion's arch. By the time they had realized it, it was too late. The probe had allowed her to complete her scheme accessing the flow of leyline energy under Lion's Arch and redirecting it far into the jungle of Maguuma.

"That was quite the defining moment.", she thought. She remembered being stabbed through by the Dragon Slayer, and it was at that point she made the jump to the Dream of Dreams.

"Dear Ceara, it's been fun, but it's now time for us to go our separate ways. I'll miss you dearly. Say hello to everyone in the Mists for me. Ta-ta!" she remembered thinking as she crossed the barrier between Tyria and the Dream. Scarlet looked around surrounding area of the Dream. "Since arriving here, this has been my home." Her face turned serious. "But...Ceara never died...she was somehow saved. And how did I not know? How did I not feel her presence?" She paused for a moment. "No matter. I learned out how to access the Mists on my own. Once I have enough energy gathered, I'll be able to open a large enough rift to the Mists, and create a continuous siphon of energy to feed into the leyline that feeds Father. That kind of power will allow him to conquer all...Tyria, the Dream, even the Mists itself will bow before him!" Her laughter echoed throughout the dead forest.

#Guild Wars 2 #GW2 #Scarlet Briar #tyriaslibrary #Sylvari #LW1 #gw2 fanfiction #Lion's Arch #A very long read #Mordremoth #Heart of Thorns #HoT #Dry Top #LW2 #Bring Back Ceara

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